Perrys Recycling is encouraging the people of Somerset to recycle all their unwanted paper (including newspapers, magazines, greetings cards, junk mail and telephone books) in their charity paper banks, which can be found at most supermarket car park recycling areas across the county. For every tonne of paper recycled through one of the dozens of paper banks, £10 is donated to the Foundation.

Local community groups and organisations have benefitted to the tune of over £30,000 in the seventh and eighth rounds of grants recently awarded from the Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme.

We're delighted to announce that our 2018/19 Surviving Winter campaign has been a phenomenal success! The appeal is well on the way to reaching this winter’s target of helping over 500 vulnerable older people in Somerset, and, thanks to the generosity of donors this winter, the campaign has already helped over 350 people across the county so far.

Taunton Deane Borough Council has recently awarded grants totalling £20,355 to 23 groups based in the Taunton Deane area. Administered by Somerset Community Foundation, the fund supports local charities, community groups and social enterprises, based within the Borough, for projects, capital purchases or core costs.

Profits generated from Burnham and Weston Energy CIC’s 36,000-panel community solar array at Wick Farm, between Lympsham and Brean, will be made available for projects that will help local communities or community organisations become more sustainable. Burnham and Weston Energy Sunshine Fund has been set up by Burnham and Weston Energy CIC and is managed by Somerset Community Foundation. Grants of up to £2,500 are available for projects covering an area stretching up the Somerset coastline from Burnham-on-Sea to Weston-super-Mare, and inland to Mark and Winscombe.

Local community groups and organisations have benefitted to the tune of almost £51,000* from the fifth and sixth rounds of grants recently awarded from the Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme, managed by Somerset Community Foundation.

We are delighted to report that the total raised by our award-winning Surviving Winter appeal now stands at £97,000 but there's just a little way further to go. The cold winter months are a perilous time of year for older people, especially those who live alone. Surviving Winter aims to tackle social isolation and make winter less lonely for older people, as well as helping them stay warm and better connected. Help us to help over 500 vulnerable, older people in Somerset who are living in fuel poverty.

If you are a grassroots community group, grants are now available up to the value of £1,500 from the newly launched Somerset Fund. Somerset Community Foundation (SCF), who manages the fund, is encouraging applications from smaller groups that run on less than £50,000 per year. The grants will be ‘unrestricted’, which means they can be used to pay for ongoing running costs, and the deadline to apply is Friday 22 February, 2019. If you run a business and would like to increase the impact of your charitable giving by up to 80% the Somerset Fund may also be of interest to you.

As part of our Enhance Social Enterprise programme, we recently worked with Cosmic and Somerset County Council’s early years team to deliver a series of training events for social enterprise pre-schools in Somerset. You can read more and watch the video here.

West country legend Les Davies MBE, FRGS is the latest local celebrity to endorse this year’s Surviving Winter appeal. Les, who trades as ‘West Countryman’, is President of the Mendip Society, Chairman of the Youth Environmental Awards Committee at the Royal Bath and West of England Society, a lifetime member of the Avon and Somerset Search and Rescue team, and Chairman of Mendip Ploughing Society was delighted to pledge his Winter Fuel Payment to the Surviving Winter appeal again this year. Les says: “It’s time to think about spreading a little warmth to help those who are vulnerable and in need. Can you help by sharing your Winter Fuel Payment with someone less fortunate, through the Surviving Winter campaign? Every little helps and goes to make someone else feel better this winter.”

The Discovery Community Fund has launched! The fund aims to support improvements to the health and independence of adults with learning disabilities and autism right across the county of Somerset, and Somerset Community Foundation is managing the distribution of up to £200,000 of funding.

West Somerset was recently found to be the worst performing area for social mobility in the whole of England. With grants from the West Somerset Youth Trust now available, funding could go some way towards helping young people in West Somerset reach their full potential. Somerset Community Foundation, who manage the trust fund, is encouraging young people aged 14 - 25 to apply for funding that can go towards the cost of an enrichment activity such as travel, courses, events or associated equipment.

Thanks to many generous supporters across Somerset, the annual Surviving Winter appeal - which aims to help keep isolated older people who are living in fuel poverty keep warm and better connected this winter - is already over halfway to reaching its target, but the campaign still has some way to go! SCF is also delighted to announce the latest ‘celebrity’ to support the campaign is The Rt Rev’d Peter Hancock, Bishop of Bath & Wells.

We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who came to Sing for Somerset in Wells Cathedral on Saturday night - we were delighted to see a record-breaking congregation attend the service this year. Following our carol service we caught up with Wells Cathedral Virger, Kieron Rowley to ask him a few questions...

Calling all community groups and local charities in Sedgemoor and West Somerset! If you would like to hear more about funding opportunities available through the Hinkley Point C Community Fund then please feel free to drop by the next grants event on Thursday 17 January, 2019 at Williton's brand new Memorial Hall and Pavilion.

West Country Master Baker, Robert Burns MBE of Burns the Bread, is the latest local name to back Somerset Community Foundation’s Surviving Winter campaign. The annual appeal aims to raise over £100,000 to help isolated and older people living in fuel poverty this winter. Bob opened the first Burns the Bread in Glastonbury in 1983 and now has seven baker’s shops across the county, including Street, Wells, Castle Cary and Somerton.

Glastonbury Festival organiser and long-time Surviving Winter supporter Michael Eavis CBE has endorsed this year’s campaign once again. Surviving Winter, administered by Somerset Community Foundation, is an award-winning appeal which encourages people to donate some or all of their Winter Fuel Payment to help local people living in fuel poverty.

Since it first lauched one year ago, The Hinkley Point C (HPC) Community Fund has awarded 39 grants to local projects and schemes, community groups, charities and social enterprises, totalling a remarkable £1,824,807.

One of the longest established and one of the newest community organisations in Mendip are two of the latest social enterprises to have benefitted from the Somerset Social Enterprise Fund (SSEF), administered by Somerset Community Foundation (SCF).

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) recently awarded a £5,000 grant towards an ambitious project to build a new community facility in the village of Bishops Hull. The project arose due to the need to replace the existing and well-used parish hall, which had provided a popular venue for the village for over 30 years.

Are you passionate about Somerset? Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) is looking for an enthusiastic individual with a good local knowledge of Bridgwater and the wider Sedgemoor area, to become one of three independent members serving in a voluntary capacity on the Hinkley Point C Community Fund Awards Panel.

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) has launched this year’s Surviving Winter campaign, which encourages people to join the growing number of contributors who donate some or all of their Winter Fuel Payment to help local people living in fuel poverty. This year, any online donations to the campaign made during the week-long Big Give Christmas Challenge - midday Tuesday 27 November to midday Tuesday 4 December - will be doubled!

Liz Simmons, one of our Associates, is stepping down from her role as the Somerset VCSE Strategic Coordinator to become the new Chief Executive of Headway Somerset. Here we reflect on how Liz has helped build stronger bridges between the local voluntary and public sectors...

Somerset businesses can be incredibly generous and support some great causes through donations and volunteering. For many, though, the process of selecting a charity or cause that will make a lasting difference can be difficult. The Somerset Fund is designed to help local businesses achieve more with their giving and could increase corporate donations by up to 120%. Read more...

Our newly appointed Programmes Manager would like to talk to you if you feel that your community is impacted by the Hinkley Point C (HPC) build. If you have an idea for a community project that could benefit from the funds available, then our drop-in day at Cannington Village Hall on Thursday 25 October could help. There is no need to make an appointment - you can pop by any time between 10am and 4pm.

Two funds are now open to applications from community groups in Taunton Deane: the Taunton Deane Borough Council Voluntary and Community Sector Small Grants Fund, and the Taunton Youth & Community Centre Fund. Both funds close on Wednesday 31 October.

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) is inviting community organisations to apply to the Mendip Hills Fund grants programme, but the clock is ticking! The 2018 round of the programme is open to new applications until October 31, 2018. The programme is particularly interested in projects that benefit communities and the environment of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty.

There is good news for Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) and the wider network of charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises working in the heart of our communities, following an announcement in the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, released earlier this month [09/08/2018]. Click through to read more.

Wessex Water, in partnership with Somerset Community Foundation, is offering grants of up to £1,500 to organisations that build cohesion in communities, with priority given to smaller groups that work in areas of financial deprivation or rural isolation – and/or work to raise awareness of drinking water for healthy living or saving water.

A further nine local groups are set to benefit from £40,000 worth of funding in the fourth round of the Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme. Administered by Somerset Community Foundation, the fund aims to mitigate the impacts and take advantage of the opportunities of the Hinkley Point C project. .

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) is looking for an individual who is passionate about Somerset, with good local knowledge of Bridgwater and the wider Sedgemoor area, to become one of three independent members serving in a voluntary capacity on the Hinkley Point C Community Fund Awards Panel.

Defibrillators can save lives - especially in remote village locations where response times are longer than the national target. Three perviously derelict telephone boxes located in villages in the Borough of Taunton Deane have now been lovingly restored to their former glory by volunteers in the Parish of Creech St Michael – with the installation of some smart new defibrillators, and with the help of a grant from our TDBC Defibrillator Fund.

Grants of up to £1,000 are once again available for local charities, voluntary or community groups, sports clubs, or social enterprises based within either Taunton Deane or West Somerset and the deadline to apply is Friday 14 September.

CQC (Care Quality Commission) have recently published their end of programme report, Beyond Barriers, reviewing how older people move through our health care system. They found that services need to work better together and that organisations in the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector are under-utilised.

The Hinkley Point C Community Fund Strategic Grants Programme, which focuses on community cohesion, has made its first awards. Six local groups will benefit from funding, totalling in the region of £650,000.

Mary's Beat, a memorial fund that was established last year to support individuals with physical and/or learning disabilities to access music therapy and outdoor adventures, has awarded its first two grants.

The final deadline for local community groups who work with young people to apply for a grant from this year's #iwill Fund is Friday 10 August. Grants of £1,000-£5,000 are now available and the #iwill Fund, managed by Somerset Community Foundation (SCF), aims to encourage youth social action among young people aged between 10 and 20 years, and up to 25 for disabled young people.

The Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme, administered by Somerset Community Foundation, has awarded six new grants, which total over £33,000 in this third round of awards. The awards have been made to Somerset Area Cruse Bereavement Care, Bridgwater; Friends of Berrow Beach, Burnham-on-Sea; Nourish Bumps, Babies and Breastfeeding, Cannington; The Quantock Foodbank, Watchet; Minehead Cycling Club, Minehead; and Wembdon Cricket Club.

Mental health charities in Somerset and Dorset are to receive a long-term boost thanks to the generosity of the founder and the trustees of the Graham Burrough Charitable Trust, who have chosen to wind the charity up after 20 years of helping people living with mental health problems. Somerset and Dorset Community Foundations will invest the Trust's funds as part of their endowments and the income will be used to support local grassroots projects helping people living with mental health problems.

Perrys Recycling has created an easy and straightforward way for people in Somerset to raise money for their local community: by recycling their unwanted paper in their Charity Paper Banks. For every tonne of paper recycled through one of the dozens of paper banks located at supermarket car parks across the county, £10 is donated to Somerset Community Foundation.

Piers and Rachel Dyer will be using vintage pedal power to cycle over 800 miles in less than a month this summer, raising funds for Mary’s Beat.

Mary’s Beat is a charitable fund for people living in Somerset or Devon with physical and/or learning disabilities, to gain access to music or outdoor activities. The fund, which was set up after Mary Christabel Dyer sadly died in 2017, is administered by Somerset Community Foundation.

The Hidden Needs Trust’s (HNT) latest fundraising idea for Somerset and Dorset’s Opportunity Groups is a physical challenge with a difference! Taking place at the Sherborne Summer Festival on Saturday 16 June, Rachel Goodfellow, founder and fundraiser at HNT, is planning on completing a marathon in a specially modified ‘Motivation’ sports racing wheelchair.

Mugs of tea, biscuits and cake were in plentiful supply at the official Somerset Levels and Moors Shed (SLaMS) relocation opening ceremony last month [April 2018]. The Men’s Shed, which has previously benefitted from grant funding from Somerset Community Foundation, recently moved to a larger premises in Bridgwater, having outgrown their original premises in Burrowbridge.

Somerset VCSE Strategic Forum's annual Leaders' Conference, which is being held on Wednesday 9 May, in Victoria Park Community Centre in Bridgwater, is a great excuse for CEOs, senior managers and Chairs to take some time out of their busy schedules. This year's theme is The Future of Social Action in Somerset and will be an exciting opportunity to hear from leading practitioners and thinkers.

The two latest groups to benefit from the Somerset Social Enterprise Fund (SSEF) are We Hear You, based in Frome, and GrassRoots Power, based in Taunton. Click through to read more about the groups' funding and what they plan to use it for.

Six more local groups are set to benefit from the Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme administered by Somerset Community Foundation.

The grants, which total almost £30,000 in this second round, have been awarded to Old Cleeve Community Hall, Old Cleeve; St. Francis Holiday Club, Bridgwater; Bridgwater Cricket Club; Work-wise, Taunton; Wilstockhub, Wilstock; and Friends of Minehead First School, Minehead.

On a very spring-like day earlier this month, we welcomed Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex to our office. The Countess, who arrived by Royal helicopter, met with SCF trustees and senior staff where they discussed how the lack of social mobility in Somerset was a growing problem and among the worst in the country, and ways that SCF will be tackling this and other issues that young people in our county face today. The Countess then met with representatives from three groups that provide opportunities for disadvantaged young people in our communities, all of whom have previously received grant funding from SCF.

Yeovil Opportunity Group (YOG), who provide specialist care to pre-school children with additional needs and their families, have recently been awarded a £3,000 grant from Somerset Community Foundation - which includes a contribution from Hidden Needs Trust (HNT).

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) is delighted to announce that its 2017/18 Surviving Winter campaign has reached its fundraising target of £100,000!

Thanks to the inspiration of one Somerset pensioner, hundreds of vulnerable older people in our communities can look forward to a warmer and more sociable winter each year. Since Surviving Winter first launched in Somerset in 2010, the appeal has raised an astounding £600,000 in total for the county, with the nationwide campaign raising over £550,000 since October 2017.

Groups working with young people that may be eligible to apply for grants from the #iwill Fund are encouraged to submit their applications to Somerset Community Foundation by the deadline of Friday 11 May. The #iwill Fund aims to encourage youth social action among young people aged between 10 and 20 years, and up to 25 for disabled young people.

Somerset Community Foundation has recently awarded grants totalling £17,859 to 19 groups based in the Taunton Deane area. Local charities, community groups and social enterprises, based within the Borough, applied for funding for projects, capital purchases or ongoing running costs.

Twenty chief executives and senior executives from the charity and voluntary sector recently attended the second Good Lunch, earlier this month. The inspiring networking event is held every four months for senior charity leaders, and the next event is being planned for June.

Ten organisations that are working with communities in Somerset who are feeling the effects of the development of Hinkley Point C have successfully made it through to the second round of the Community Cohesion grants programme.

Somerset Community Foundation’s award-winning Surviving Winter appeal has almost reached its target and is now standing at £97,500. With just £2,500 to raise before reaching their target of £100,000, SCF’s CEO Justin Sargent is urging people to donate.

Following the first Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme panel meeting last month [January 2018], Middlezoy Arts and Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge Men’s Shed (BOSHed) are the first groups to have been awarded grants, which together total nearly £10,000.

Social enterprises, voluntary organisations and charities in the South West can soon take advantage of a number of free support workshops, including Ready, Steady, Grow! which is delivered by Somerset Community Foundation, about growth and becoming more sustainable, and a series of leadership workshops that are being delivered by Cosmic.

Hinkley Point C Community Fund Small Grants Programme, which is managed by Somerset Community Foundation, is open to applications from charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises and the next deadline to apply is Friday 2 March. Organisations or community groups with an annual income of less than £100,000 are encouraged to apply, and successful applicants can expect to benefit from grants of up to £5,000 for projects, measures or initiatives that help to mitigate impacts from the construction of Hinkley Point C in their community.

Surviving Winter, the appeal run by Somerset Community Foundation that encourages pensioners who feel they don’t want or need their Winter Fuel Payment to donate it, has just received a welcome boost in the shape of £5000 from EDF Energy – but there is still a little way to go before the appeal reaches its target of £100,000 to help 500 older people this winter.

New grants of up to £1,000 are available for people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities or both and living in Somerset or Devon to take part in music therapy, music experiences and outdoor adventures. The grants are made possible by a new fund called Mary’s Beat, which has been created in memory of Mary Christabel Dyer.

Grants of up to £1,000 from the Local Community Fund, are available for local charities, voluntary or community groups, sports clubs, or social enterprises based within either Taunton Deane or West Somerset and the deadline to apply is Monday 26 February.

Michael Eavis CBE has joined the Bishop of Bath and Wells, celebrated potter John Leach and West Countryman Les Davies MBE, FRGS in endorsing the 2017/18 Surviving Winter appeal. Now in its eighth year, the Surviving Winter appeal, which is managed by Somerset Community Foundation, asks pensioners who can live without their Winter Fuel Payment to donate it to help local older people who are struggling to stay socially connected and warm this winter.

As the peal of the mighty bells rang out from the south-west tower, over 500 people filled the magnificent Wells Cathedral on Saturday night for our annual ‘Sing for Somerset’ carol service. Read more here...

Generous Surviving Winter supporters in Somerset have already donated over £70,000 to the campaign, which aims to help keep isolated older people who are living in fuel poverty warm and connected this winter.

West Country legend Les Davies MBE is the latest local name to back Somerset Community Foundation’s Surviving Winter campaign. And, following a recent television appearance where Les endorsed Surviving Winter on a BBC Points West report with Clinton Rogers, the appeal has had a massive boost - with donations now well on their way to reaching 50 per cent of the £100,000 target!

Somerset Community Foundation’s Surviving Winter campaign is off to a great start with over 10% of the £100,000 target already raised! Somerset Community Foundation (SCF), who administer the annual award-winning programme, is also delighted to announce the latest celebrity to support the campaign, celebrated potter John Leach, who is the eldest grandson of renowned potter Bernard Leach and son of potter David Leach. Now in its eighth year, the award-winning Surviving Winter appeal asks people to think about donating some or all of their Winter Fuel Payment to help SCF reach their target of raising £100,000 to help 500 isolated and vulnerable older people this winter.

We're delighted to announce that the Rt Rev’d Peter Hancock, Bishop of Bath & Wells, has endorsed our Surviving Winter campaign again. Now in its eighth year, the award-winning Surviving Winter appeal asks people to think about donating some or all of their Winter Fuel Payment to help SCF reach their target of raising £100,000 to help 500 isolated and vulnerable older people this winter.

'Tis the season....! Somerset Community Foundation is once again inviting members of the public to join them for their annual Sing for Somerset carol service in the magnificent Wells Cathedral on Saturday 16 December at 7pm. Admission is free, no tickets are required and doors will open at 6.15pm.

The deadline for the next round of Youth Social Action Fund (YSAF) grant applications is fast approaching - Monday 13 November. Groups working with young people that may be eligible are encouraged to submit their applications to Somerset Community Foundation soon. The Youth Social Action Fund is open for grant applications of £1,000 - £5,000, and the programme aims to promote volunteering, fundraising and campaigning among young people aged between 10 and 25.

Funding of up to £1,000 has now become available for local charities, community groups and social enterprises, based within Taunton Deane, towards their projects, for capital purchases or for their ongoing running costs (also known as core costs) and in some cases may also benefit from additional match funding from Somerset Community Foundation. The grant is open for applications from Monday, October 2 until Friday, November 17, 2017.

Somerset Community Foundation and Community Council for Somerset, in partnership with Clarity CIC, have launched a survey for people living and working in communities that will be directly affected during the Hinkley Point C construction period. The survey asks individuals and local community organisations - such as parish councils, village halls and local schools - what they feel would help to improve community well-being and quality of life and the deadline to complete the survey is Monday 6 November.

Somerset Community Foundation has an exciting opportunity for highly motivated people to join their Board of trustees and the deadline to apply is Sunday 15 October. Vacancies are available in three specific areas: developing the strategic direction and delivery of grants programmes; promoting SCF’s ‘Inspiring Philanthropy’ role in Somerset; and overseeing the investment of SCF’s £5m endowment fund.*

Charities and social enterprises in Somerset could soon benefit from a new boost to the Somerset Social Enterprise Fund (SSEF), which is delivered by Somerset Community Foundation (SCF). A blended range of funding, which will combine grants with loans, is now available and funding packages will range from £25,000 to £100,000 to support groups that benefit society as well as generate financial returns.

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) have bid a fond farewell to trustee and grants panel member Jane Lock after nine years of expert advice and £3.9m of grants funding to 1,787 community groups and charities across Somerset.

Somerset Community Foundation is delivering a defibrillator fund on behalf of Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) and the deadline to apply is Saturday, September 30. Parish councils, local charities, community groups and social enterprises based within Taunton Deane can all apply for funding, which can help towards the cost of installing a public access Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Somerset Community Foundation have teamed up with UnLtd to invite anyone who is interested in helping older people in their community, to register for an open event where they can discuss their ideas for setting up a project and learn more about available funding.

Somerset Community Foundation is teaming up with Comic Relief to deliver part of a £2 million national investment, supporting small, community-led organisations with grants of £1,000-£5,000 towards their core running costs.

Somerset Community Foundation has allocated more than £18,000 to community groups and projects across Somerset through the Comic Relief Community Cash fund. A total of twenty Comic Relief Community Cash grants of £500-£1,000 were given to local Somerset projects.

Somerset Community Foundation has awarded its first Youth Social Action Fund (YSAF) grants to four Somerset community groups. The YSAF is part of the national #iwill campaign which encourages young people to engage in social action - such as campaigning, fundraising and volunteering.

Cosmic, one of our partners on the Enhance Social Enterprise programme, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), are offering social enterprises the opportunity to attend a free digital marketing workshop at the Glass Box in Taunton on Wednesday 12 July, 1.15pm-4.30pm.

Through a combination of grant and social investment from Somerset Community Foundation, the Trident Youth and Community Centre has been able to create a new outdoor playing surface for use by the local community.

We are delighted to announce the first 'Do It' award from our 'Solutions for an Ageing Society' programme in partnership with UnLtd and funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the South West Academic Health Science Network.

A new report released this week celebrates the amazing work of the thousands of charities and voluntary groups providing vital support in our communities, but it also highlights a sector under pressure.

The Huish’s Exhibition Foundation is the latest charitable trust to transfer to the stewardship of Somerset Community Foundation. Established in the nineteenth century, the trust has supported the education of young people in Taunton Deane for almost 150 years, and now it begins a new phase in its history.

When Mary Stirling of Somerton came across a wood engraving depicting The Great Flood of 1607, she was inspired to adapt the image for needlepoint. DIY kits are available now with sales benefitting SCF!

SCF is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of 5 national partners to support a new initiative backed by The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to identify and nurture great people with ideas that will really make a difference to the lives of older people.

Somerset Community Foundation has been selected as an Access Point for the new Reach Fund, a £4m grant fund to support charities and social enterprises to access the investment they need to grow and diversify their income streams.

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) welcomed Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex to their head office to meet some of the grassroots groups working on the frontline to tackle disadvantage and build vibrant communities in our county.

Dinner with Julian Fellowes, a morning on the Gallops with Paul Nicholls, a Race Day at Wincanton and a Luxury Hamper to be raffled off at the Bath & West Show - buy tickets & support the Somerset Youth Fund!

Somerset Community Foundation held a beneficiaries lunch with property development company Summerfield at their Taunton office on Thursday, as a way of saying thank you to the firm for their grant making in the local area.

Representatives from the Youth Group attended a lunch reception at Clarke Willmott’s Taunton office last week, which brought together charities and community groups funded by Somerset Community Foundation.

Somerset Community Foundation will launch an exciting expansion of our successful mentoring programme, Raising Aspirations, to Taunton Academy in Taunton and Court Fields School in Wellington this Spring.

Care and Share Time, a group for lonely elderly residents in the Yeovil area, received a grant through Somerset Community Foundation in June 2014. Read about the impact of the grant on the group and its members here.

Taunton based charity On Your Bike, recipients of a grant from Somerset Community Foundation at the beginning of 2014, announce that three of their trainee beneficiary mechanics have passed their Cytech 2 assessments.

Supporters, friends and recipients of grants attended Somerset Community Foundation’s Annual Celebration last week. Keynote speaker, Tracey Bleakley, spoke about her involvement in the successful campaign for financial education to be in the National Curriculum in England and also the life cycle of a charity, from inception to merger.

Our innovative mentoring programme ‘Raising Aspirations’ pairs young people at risk of under-achievement at Crispin School in Street with a mentor who can encourage and support them. The programme has been shown to make a difference and is rewarding for both mentors and young people. We are currently recruiting mentors for this academic year: could YOU use your skills and experience to change a young person’s future?

HRH The Prince of Wales attended a reception at Stoke St Gregory villllage hall today to hear first hand about the plight of rural communities who are struggling with severe floodings as a result of the wettest January since records began.

In response, the Prince's Countryside Fund has announced it will donate £25,000 from its Emergency Fund to the Foundation's Emergency Flood Relief Appeal.

Somerset Community Foundation’s Emergency Flood Relief Fund has grown to almost £70,000 towards its £150,000 target. Dozens of emergency relief grants have been issued already, and now the Foundation is broadening the scope of its support. The appeal has received endorsement from the Bishop of Taunton, the Rt. Revd Peter Maurice and MP for Somerton and Frome, David Heath CBE.

In partnership with Quartet Community Foundation, we are distributing a £75,000 Sport Relief Communities Cash fund to communities across the West of England. Click on the headline above to find out more.

Somerset Community Foundation held its Annual Celebration in November atPennard House in East Pennard, with key note speaker Lord Wei of Shoreditchinspiring over 170 guests.

Inspiring Philanthropy for Somerset

Somerset Community Foundation has been inspiring community philanthropy since 2002. We currently manage over 84 funds for individuals, companies, trusts and public bodies. Over the last 15 years, we have supported hundreds of local charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises in our county with over £7.5 million of investment. Contact us today to discuss how we can work together to strengthen your community and transform lives throughout Somerset.